


A Steadying Hand

by abcooper



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Secret Santa Exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-19 16:04:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13127079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abcooper/pseuds/abcooper
Summary: For the prompt:  How about something hurt/comfort? Maybe Lena gets hurt in an attack on LCorp and Kara helps her





	A Steadying Hand

**Author's Note:**

  * For [StarshipHufflebadger](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarshipHufflebadger/gifts).



> :D Merry Merry Christmas, friend!! I hope that you enjoy your gift, and that you have an amaaazing 2018! <3

It’s very convenient that Kara’s friends always fall into life-threatening situations directly in front of her. If James went and fell down an elevator shaft when Kara  _ wasn’t  _ standing in the doorway, it would be a much larger problem. And it’s not as though Kara’s the one who  _ leads  _ them into danger, either - that’s not why she’s always there! There is a 500% chance that James Olsen would crawl into an elevator shaft after an earthquake with or without Kara around, and anyone who thinks otherwise must have missed him running around in a stupid costume for the past six months.

In lighthearted moments, it just feels like luck. When things are a little darker and quieter, when Kara lies in bed and can’t sleep around the sharp knowledge of just how  _ close  _ she has come to losing someone again - she sometimes thinks maybe it’s something else. She thinks maybe there’s some eternal ledger written into the stars. She thinks Rao has weighed the balance of her losses, and decided to let her keep her loved ones just a little longer.

Whatever it is that has allowed her Earth-family to escape unscathed, it has held strong for long enough that on some level, Kara trusts in it. So when she steps off the plane from Gotham into National City airport, she’s pleased to see Alex waiting for her. She doesn’t even notice her sister’s solemn expression at first - she’s still high on the novelty of taking an actual  _ airplane  _ to a  _ journalism conference.  _ Snapper had even complimented her - kind of. Well, he’d made fun of her hair. But making fun of her appearance without making fun of her writing, personality, or general competence is  _ basically  _ his version of a compliment.

“Alex, it was amazing!!” she gushes, rushing into the bubble of her sister’s space, and her first hint that something’s wrong is the way that Alex puts a hand on her shoulder to cut her off.

“Kara,” she says, and that’s all it takes for Kara to notice the tension vibrating in Alex’s shoulders, the clench of her jaw.

“What’s going on?” she asks. She’s shifting gears, ready to drop her luggage and find an inconspicuous exit to fly through. Alex’s hand stays firm on her shoulder, a calm pressure.

“It’s Lena,” she says. “A bomb went off at L-Corp about four hours ago.”

**

Kara’s dimly aware that she probably should have said  _ something  _ to Snapper before she took off from the airport. She was supposed to drive him back to CatCo. 

She can’t bring herself to care. The private room in National City Methodist Hospital has natural light pouring in through a large window onto soothing blue walls. There’s no sound in the room except Lena’s labored breathing from her hospital bed.

If Kara had been there - if she’d made some excuse to Snapper and flown home from the conference herself, instead of turning off her cell phone and getting on an airplane for four stupid hours - she would have protected Lena. She  _ always  _ protects Lena.

She wasn’t there. She’s here now, though, and she reaches out to smooth the coarse white fabric of Lena’s thin hospital pillow.

Lena’s face is pale and washed out against it, but Lena’s face is always pale. Kara’s not sure if she really looks ill, or if it’s just that she has never let Kara see her before without bright lipstick and heavy mascara, and all the other different masks that Lena layers over herself even in front of her closest friends.

Her makeup is gone, and there are subtle imprints in her skin - she’d been on an oxygen mask for awhile. She’d inhaled a lot of dust from the blown in wall of her office. Her ribs are broken and she’s sedated, but she is absolutely going to wake up, and when she does, Kara is going to be here. She’s going to take care of her

Alex comes in behind her and Kara straightens, guiltily removing her hand from Lena’s pillow where it had been inching closer and closer to stroking her friend’s hair.

Alex doesn’t comment on that, just comes up behind Kara’s chair and puts an affectionate arm around her. “I talked to a friend in the FBI,” she says. “No alien connection to this one - just a disgruntled ex-employee. He’s in custody.”

Kara hums skeptically. Lena has good security. It doesn’t make sense that some fired idiot could walk right through all that and plant a bomb in Lena’s office.    


“I know,” Alex says in response to the sound. “I’ll make sure they look into it."

“Thanks,” Kara says, and leans her cheek against her sister, taking comfort in the knowledge that she can trust Alex to handle things. 

“She’s going to be fine,” Alex tells her softly. “I already looked at her charts - she’ll probably wake up in the next hour or so.” 

“Yeah, the nurse told me,” Kara says. “She’s not allowed to have any coffee for at least three days - I asked. She’s going to sulk.”

Alex laughs lightly, and squeezes Kara’s shoulders a little harder. She knows better than anyone how hard Kara works to stay steady in these moments - how every new brush with loss touches on decades-deep wounds.

“I’m going to go follow up with the investigation,” she says. “And I've got some work to do at the DOE. But I’ll be back. I’ll bring you a change of clothes, ok?"

“Thanks,” Kara says, and really means it. She waits for Alex to leave the room before she scoots closer to Lena’s bedside, reaching out finally to brush her fingers through Lena’s hair. She smooths it gently, detangling and arranging before letting her hand fall down to cup Lena's cheek. Almost imperceptibly, Lena leans into her touch.

“Hey,” Kara murmurs, brushing her fingers over warm skin. “You waking up?”

“Five more minutes,” Lena says, her voice raspy, and Kara tries to laugh. What comes out instead is a ragged sob, and Lena’s eyes shoot open, alarmed.

“Wh’sa matter?” she rasps, and starts trying to sit up. Kara pushes her back down before she can hurt herself.

“It’s fine, it’s fine - I’m glad you’re awake. You had me worried, that’s all, “ she says. Lena reaches out with an imperious hand, and Kara obligingly clasps it, intertwining their fingers.

“Sorry - don't cry, Kara. You shouldn’t worry about me,” Lena tells her, and she is definitely still feeling those drugs, her voice slurred.

“OK - I won’t worry if you won’t,” Kara tells her lightly, because Lena’s drugged brow is furrowed in concern, and this clearly isn’t the time for tears. "There's nothing to worry about - you're going to be fine, which means I'm going to be fine." Impulsively, she leans in and plants a kiss on Lena’s forehead. Lena’s face smooths out into a dopey smile. “I’m just going to go tell the nurse you’re awake, ok?”

“Nooo, stay….” Lena whines, but her eyes have already fluttered shut again before she finishes the word. Kara laughs, and brings their entwined hands up so she can kiss Lena’s fingers.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she promises. 


End file.
